Tag Archives: green onion

This week, we’re getting green onions from Lundgren, collards from Gordon Taylor, beets and mixed salad greens from My Father’s Farm, tomatoes from Village Farm, spinach from Naegelin, cabbage and broccoli from Acadian, herb from Pure Luck, and limes from G&S Groves.

So I’m making:

Rosemary flatbread pizza with tomatoes and fresh mozzerella (I made the rosemary flatbread last week, but I didn’t realize that the oven needed to be cleaned before I could bake anything. So I stuck it in the freezer for another time. Looks like it’s this week!)

Steamed broccoli with lime and green onions (similar to how I made this okra)

Green salad

I’m not sure how I’ll use the herb yet, but I’m sure I’ll have some ideas when I see what it is.

My sister was nice enough to give me a gift certificate to Williams Sonoma for my birthday (along with some pink sponges — she knows me so well!), and I used it to purchase a new mandoline (my old one wasn’t too user-friendly). I’ve been wanting to make a raw beet salad for a while, and a new mandoline is a perfect excuse.

In addition to the jalapeno popper dip, these nacho pinwheels are another tasty Super Bowl snack that uses lots of Local Box produce! They’re totally addicting and super easy, making them a great addition to your menu for this Sunday.

Finely minced red onion, jalapeno, or cilantro would also be great additions!

Uncultured as I am, I had to do a bit of research to determine the differences between dumplings and potstickers. Turns out that dumplings are steamed or boiled, while potstickers are pan-fried. Ah! I decided to try my hand at both.

I was so pleased with the way these turned out! My pleating technique was terrible at first, and really took some practice to get the hang of it. The filling was moist and flavorful, and the ginger and soy in the dipping sauce really brought out those flavors in the filling. I liked the light, chewy texture of the dumplings, where my husband liked the crunchy bottoms of the potstickers (let’s face it, did anyone think he wouldn’t prefer the fried option?). The slaw was light and refreshing, and a good way to make dumplings a full meal. The dough is a great base and I’m looking forward to experimenting with lots of different fillings, including dessert ones (peach with caramel? raspberry with chocolate ganache?).

The recipe as written below yields ~30 dumplings. The amount of dough only uses 1/2 of the filling yielded in this recipe, so if you don’t want to have filling left over, double the dough recipe. Since we didn’t really need 60 dumplings, I sauteed the filling by itself while the dumplings/potstickers were cooking and we ate it in lettuce wraps.

For the dough, go to Use Real Butter. I used the same exact recipe, only mine needed a bit more water (~1/4 c.)

For the filling:

1 lb. ground pork

1/2 small head green cabbage, chopped finely (Note that if you’re planning on steaming the dumplings, reserve a few of the outer leaves to lay in the bottom of the steamer basket to prevent the dumplings from sticking.)

1/2 bunch green onions, chopped finely

1-8 oz. can water chestnuts, chopped finely

1.5″ fresh ginger, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

2 Tbsp. corn starch

For my version of the dipping sauce:

2 Tbsp. sake

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. honey

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1/4 tsp. ginger, grated

Directions:

Check out Use Real Butter for instructions on how to make the dough and pleat it correctly.

With a rolling pin, roll out each piece into a circle. They should be ~1/8″ thick and the center of the circles should be a bit thicker than the edges.

Once you’ve got the dough made and rolled out into small circles, put ~1 Tbsp. of the filling in the middle of the circle and fold the circle in half. Close the dough pocket by pleating the edges.

Food safety tip: assembling the dumplings takes a bit of time, so you want to make sure the raw filling stays cool. To do so, store the bowl of filling inside of a larger bowl filled with ice. Work in batches of dumplings, so as you finish 5 or so, put them on a plate and store them in the fridge.

To steam the dumplings, lay cabbage leaves in the bottom of a steamer basket and steam them for ~6 minutes, then serve immediately.

To pan-fry the potstickers, heat ~2-3 Tbsp. canola oil over high heat in a frying pan. Add the potstickers so that the pleated edge is facing up. Fry the potstickers in the oil for a few minutes until the bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 c. water to the pan and cover immediately (please be careful while doing this — it makes a ton of steam and is downright scary!). Cook until the water has boiled off, then remove the cover and lower the heat to medium-low. Let the potstickers cook for another 2 minutes, then serve immediately.

Combine all of the dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl and serve with the dumplings/potstickers.

We’re back in Texas and ready to get our local produce again! According to my new iPhone app called “What’s Fresh,” we can expect lots of citrus and greens — and Greenling didn’t let us down this week.

If you’re at a loss for what to do with a big bunch of parsley (other than use it as a garnish, that is), you can make a fantastic dip by chopping it up with some chives or other herbs and mixing that with some ricotta cheese.

I’ve tried okra a few ways now. My least enjoyable was boiling it, then dipping it in a soy-based sauce. Blech. Slime central. I saw this recipe for steaming it and was intrigued — perhaps a gentler form of cooking would cut down on the slime?

It definitely did!

The original recipe calls for matchsticks of fresh ginger root to be tossed with the green onions and the okra at the end of cooking. I don’t care for the texture of ginger matchsticks without cooking it, so I just grated the ginger over the okra and green onions.

Heat about 2″ of water in a pot until boiling. Place a steamer basket in the bot, then put the okra in the steamer basket and cover the pot. Steam the okra for 7 minutes.

While the okra is cooking, heat the oil in a skillet. When hot, add the green onions and saute for 2 minutes.

When the okra is finished steaming, set aside in a bowl. Toss with the sauteed green onions, grated ginger and lime juice. Add salt to taste and serve immediately.

Verdict:
I really loved the zing from the fresh lime juice and the spiciness of the ginger. The slime factor was definitely cut down, but there was still a bit there. Oddly enough, I didn’t mind it so much, as it allowed the green onions to stick to the okra more.

I love pasta salads. They’re perfect for 2 people or big group gatherings, and they make great leftovers for lunch the next day. This one has an Asian spin and uses sesame oil and soy sauce to pack lots of flavor.

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, and as I’ve mentioned before, they don’t really like when food bloggers use their recipe on their websites. As such, I don’t use a ton of Cooking Light recipes. This one was too good to pass up though. You can head on over to the website for the full recipe.

My local grocery store didn’t have udon noodles, so I subbed whole grain thin spaghetti. It was nice, but I’d like to try this with udon also. We got a few nice cucumbers in our Greenling box this week, and this recipe was the perfect way to highlight their crunchy texture. Along with the cucumbers, I tossed the cooked pasta, grilled chicken slices, and chopped green onions in a sauce of toasted sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, a bit of honey, soy sauce and grated ginger. After topping with peanuts, we were ready to eat.

Verdict:
While pasta salad is traditionally a side dish, this was a filling lunch for us. Whole wheat pasta is much heartier than pasta made with white flour, and the chicken provides some protein, so there’s not much else needed. The sauce is a light but really flavorful base for the pasta and veggies.

The only change I’d make in the future is toasting the peanuts before putting them on top of the noodles for another layer of flavors.

What a way to use as many items from our Greenling box as possible! We’ve been getting okra and squash for the last few weeks, and we got garlic last week. Fresh corn and really ripe tomatoes have been abundant for a few weeks now too, so this was the perfect dish to use all of that beautiful produce. I served this with simple grilled chicken, but this side dish was really the star of the meal.

It makes at least 4 servings for hungry people, so we had plenty of leftovers.

In a small bowl, toss the sliced okra lightly in the cornmeal to coat.

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Shake off the excess cornmeal with a slotted spoon, then add the breaded okra to the skillet and saute until coating is golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the browned okra to paper towels to drain; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wipe out the skillet.

Lower the heat to medium and heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil in the same skillet. Add corn, squash, and garlic and saute for 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes, then cover and cook until squash is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Mix in okra, cilantro, and green onions. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve immediately.

Verdict:
I couldn’t stop eating this. There were so many flavors and textures going — the brightness of the cilantro, the pungent acidity of the okra, the sweetness of the corn. And the colors were beautiful!

However, the cornmeal breading didn’t stay on the okra at all. I think I could’ve skipped that step and just browned the okra with the squash. However, if you want a true fried okra feel to the dish, I’d dredge it in egg before coating with cornmeal to ensure that the breading sticks.